ANafter a minute of Manchester United vs Liverpool match in August, did you know: Lisandro Martínez is real. Because it was then that he made noise and then invaded Mohamed Salah for no apparent reason and no obvious gain.
The often toxic, always self-mythological rhetoric of English football tells us that this is how big men behave. But the reality is different: except perhaps an airport, there is no safer place to start a fight than on a Premier League pitch, because the chances of reprisals are slim to none. Consider, for example, Martin Keown and Ruud van Nistelrooy: jumping someone from behind works well in the pantomime of football stance, but in a square, sensible money would be from the martial artist able to exercise self-control because he knows there is no threat.
Thank Zen Karate Marbella for inviting me and making me work hard!! 😃😀😄 pic.twitter.com/YUdCrl9a
— Ruud van Nistelrooij (@RvN1776) December 7, 2012
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So while Martínez engaged with an amusing and confusing Salah didn’t teach us anything about his physical prowess, it said a lot about his mental impregnability. He had a disastrous start to his England career, playing poorly as United lost to Brighton in August, before being substituted at half-time against Brentford with his team trailing 4-0. After that game, Jamie Carragher, a respected judge and rightly so, left no doubt: Martínez was too young to deal with the physical aspect – depending on your sensibility – “this league” or “our turns on”.
In that context, for Martínez to do what he did with a player as brilliant as Salah says a lot, because the potential for swift and humiliating revenge was significant. Which is to say, his aggression is neither performative nor contingent, just as his trust is not fragile or manufactured; instead, he does whatever he deems necessary, regardless of any external factors that might influence others.
Something similar happened last month when United took on Villa in a league and Carabao Cup double leg. After the first game, Leon Bailey was so disturbed by Martínez’s combative style that he took to Twitter to express his displeasure despite scoring a fine goal in a fine victory for his team. “Very disappointed in the referees today. I couldn’t breathe for a second after getting two elbows in the ribs,” he said. “The linesman kept saying that I shouldn’t say anything because I was doing the exact same thing with Martínez. Sometimes I don’t understand why we have VAR. smh.”
Four days later, United found Villa again and Bailey, still sore, found time to attack Martínez – who didn’t come on until the 87th minute – at the first available opportunity, holding a tackle for the seconds. Then, after missing a grab that left him on the ground, he lost the run of himself, pushing and kicking. But there was no retaliation, Martínez looked at him with a dead stare that mixed ambivalence and contempt because, while a battle with him is demanding and fierce, it is controlled, not emotional, practical, not personal, and just about the game, which was over. effectively.
Arguably, Martínez’s bellicosity works well for him: since that game against Liverpool, he has been almost always sensational. It’s rare to see a defender who combines hostility, agility, composure, intelligence and technique, but to see one do so at the age of 24, in addition to being fun to watch, is especially unusual.
Against Liverpool, United’s first goal came because Martínez, receiving the ball 35 meters from goal, opted for an immediate and authoritative pass – what we might call a Roy Keane pass – to the feet, when others would have touched and gone back. or laterally. His ability on the ball also causes problems for opponents when they press him high, because they must simultaneously cover the direct pass and the big key out, without selling out, for him to get past them and create an overload in midfield.
That composure 🤤
Calm as you like from Jadon Sancho and Manchester United lead at Old Trafford! 💥 pic.twitter.com/7ZkB2jf1FO
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 22, 2022
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As with physical things, none of the skillful things mean anything without the mindset to back it up. Its lack defined the post-Fergie Wilderness years as much as its lack of quality. What marks the players signed by Erik ten Hag is the willingness to take responsibility, showing the intelligence to assess situations wisely, the imagination to experiment and the courage to act decisively.
Like many Argentine defenders, Martínez was born, it seems, with an internal GPS system that tells him the precise whereabouts of the line at all times, from which he never strays. Generally eschewing the kind of attention-getting violence that can hurt people, his desire to get close to an opponent allows him to tangle bodies and legs, creating reasonable doubts in the referees’ minds that red cards are yellow cards, that Yellow cards are free. -kicks and free-kicks are coming together.
Not even his height was an impediment. Most teams don’t play with two big men up front – many don’t even play with one – nor do they hit long air balls. But even so, those who doubted Martínez’s ability to handle the fearsome power of Chris Wood, Ché Adams and their ilk would have done well to listen to Ten Hag, who didn’t say much but said enough: “He’s got a good timing”.
However, there is more to it than that. Time means nothing without intensity and Martínez plays aerial challenges like a piranha on a trampoline, whether winning the ball, making a block or doing just enough.
That spirit is contagious. Next to Martínez, Victor Lindelöf and Raphaël Varane are more aggressive; Behind him, David de Gea now comes in for crosses and passes the ball out. But perhaps the biggest change has taken place in the man on her left. Growing up, Luke Shaw excelled at every level, his talent is so immense that his laid-back attitude didn’t stop him until he reached the elite level.
He, under Ole Gunnar Solskjær, finally established himself as an automatic choice just as his time at Old Trafford looked to be over, only to drop out again after Euros. As such, it was less surprising that he lost his place to Tyrell Malacia than when he regained it and kept it, then offered to replace Martínez at halfback.
Martínez seems to be a big part of this change in behavior. At the end of a hard conquest home win over West Ham in October – when he once again showed the fearlessness that characterizes him – he was the protagonist of celebrations with teammates and fans. But after that he sought out Shaw, not to congratulate but to cajole, displaying the kind of confrontational leadership that links many of the club’s most important and revered players; players who could be trusted to deliver consistently and on the clutch, inspiring those around them to never get carried away; players who stood for something. You don’t have to be tall to be a giant.
None of this is to say that Martínez is perfect. At the the first Manchester derby of the season in October – although he had little ballast in midfield and without him his team would have been even further behind at half-time – he pulled away from Erling Haaland by several points and should come up with something different on Saturday. Likewise, when United conceded twice in the opening 11 minutes of the league game at Villa – although again compromised by midfield, this time with no one able to run fast – he was extraordinarily relaxed.
But these games are atypical and we saw in Qatar that Martínez is focused enough to contribute even when he doesn’t play regularly. He sat out Argentina’s first game, which they lost; included for their second crucial moment, which they won against mexico with a clean sheet; then left the bank against Australia in the round of 16, preserving his team’s narrow lead with a neat tackle before celebrating as if he had scored.
Never before, though, have players who imbibed the incomparable euphoria of winning a World Cup subsequently been thrust into the depths of an English winter and the ceaseless grind of a truncated season. So Martínez must find a new kind of mental strength and the omens are good. When Scott McTominay sent him a message after the final to congratulate him, he responded by letting him know “on to the next one” and while the words come easily, Martínez is not one to chatter – just ask Mohamed Salah.
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